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not at all inspired by real people 👀

If you hire the wrong people, your startup will fail. Yeah, yeah, that sounds dramatic, but think about it: Your business is not the product you sell or the processes you design—it’s the people you hire. Startups make hiring mistakes because they’re too eager to scale and want warm bodies in seats ASAP. They hire too fast or hire the wrong people. But startups don’t have the luxury of making hiring mistakes! The progress you make *each month* matters more than it would for a more established company. You can’t afford setbacks. Startups require a special breed of talent: 💪 People who can build, sell, and adapt. 🧠 People who create solutions rather than waiting for guidance. 🌪️ People who can bring order to the chaos. Take your time to find the right fit because the wrong hire can cost you WAY more time and money in the long run. Learn what to look for when making your startup’s first hires in the latest episode of The 0 to $30 Million Blueprint. 👇

PSA: Founder-led content is a secret weapon for startup growth. Not everyone can outspend competitors on advertising. And even if you can, that’s not enough on its own anymore. You’ll need to find more creative ways to differentiate. When your startup is unknown, you face an uphill battle to earn people’s trust because your company has zero reputation. As a founder, YOU can take charge of building your reputation by creating founder content aimed at helping your customers succeed. When you produce compelling, authentic, and genuinely helpful content, you can build a completely different relationship with your customers than your competition can. Ask us how we know. 😌 Our founder Steli Efti built an audience by going all-in on educating customers through his content. It’s proven more effective and durable than any other marketing tactic or strategy we’ve tried. We know you can do it too. 💪 Learn how to build your founder brand in the latest episode of The 0 to $30 Million Blueprint. 👇

Live from Austin and Greece, it’s The 0 to $30 Million Blueprint! Season 2 kicks off tomorrow 💪 when Steli Efti shares the lessons he learned from using founder-led content to build a B2B SaaS brand—and how others can do the same. Tune in for the season premiere to learn how to use founder-led content to build and scale your company. Subscribe at the link in comments to never miss an episode. 👇

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The Close team has been getting into the Halloween spirit all month with some spooky Slack names. Who’s rocking the best Halloween-inspired name? Cast your votes in the comments! 🧛 🎃

When acquiring your first customers, it helps to remember the movie Apollo 13. No, not because everything will break, and you’ll almost die in space. In Apollo 13, an argument breaks out onboard the ship—astronaut Jack Swigert expresses concerns to his crewmates about how the ship’s heat shield will perform on re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. “There’s a thousand things that have to happen in order for us to survive,” replies Commander Jim Lovell. “We are on number 8. You’re talking about number 692.” This is the most common mistake for businesses working on their first 10 customers: they think like Jack Swigert. If you think too hard about how your strategies at this level will scale when you have 1,000 customers, you’re thinking *too far* in advance. To get your first 10 customers, starting with tactics that won’t scale is okay. The tactics you use to get your first 10 customers will be completely different from those you use to get your first 100 and 1,000 customers. Learn more in the latest episode of The 0 to $30 Million Blueprint—How to Scale from 0 to 1,000 Customers (Without Breaking Everything). Link in the comments. 🚀 PS. Stay tuned for season 2 👀 P.P.S. You can now catch the audio version of the Blueprint series wherever you get your podcasts. 🎧

Sometimes, less is more. Ditch your business phone. Just use Premium Phone Numbers in Close. Sign up today and get three months free. 👇 (Offer is valid through Nov. 8)

We ditched our business phone. Maybe you should, too? Combine your two non-negotiable tools (CRM and business phone) with our new feature, Premium Phone Numbers: - Automatically route calls based on existing data - Distribute new leads to sales reps equitably - Let brand-new leads route themselves Simplify and save. 🤑 Add a Premium Phone Number to your Close account before Nov. 8 and get three months free. 👇

As an entrepreneur, you’re often taught to "grind it out" to make your idea work—hustle harder, push through the obstacles. But Steli Efti says that grinding harder isn’t always the answer. Sometimes you need to pivot. Pivoting means letting go of the initial vision you had for your startup and trying a new approach. 📢 Here’s the truth: Your startup is NOT your baby. You don’t need to stick with an idea simply because you’ve already sunk a lot of time and energy into it. If your passion isn’t translating into progress, it might be time to pivot. Here’s how to know when a pivot is due: 💪 You’re working harder but not moving the needle. 📉 Your growth is stagnant. 😐 You’ve lost excitement and energy. Don’t mistake a pivot for defeat—it’s a strategic shift toward success. Most successful companies, from YouTube to Netflix, pivoted to become what they are today. 👇 Check out episode three of The 0 to $30 Million Blueprint, “How to Know When It’s Time to Pivot Your Startup.” Link in the comments.